The Full Monty TV review: Sheffield sparkles as gang return in great form for more madcap antics on Disney+

Yes, it’s great to have Gaz, Mark and the gang back in Sheffield 26 years after they famously bared all in the film which, against all odds, became a global phenomenon. But why risk the legacy of such a great movie by bringing them back to the Steel City for more exploits, this time on the small screen, with the danger it could fall limp the second time around?

Anger is the reason. Anger at how so little has changed in the intervening quarter of a century, despite so many promises from so many politicians, and cities like Sheffield are in some ways even worse off than they were in the post-industrial malaise which inspired the 1997 film, with the team of plucky underdogs again fighting a system that seems set up for them to fail.

Writer Simon Beaufoy, teaming up this time with Alice Nutter, wanted to lay bare how communities have been let down by years of austerity, leaving us with crumbling schools, a creaking public transport network and a healthcare system on life support. They wanted to do it again while making us laugh and giving us hope, and thankfully I needn’t have worried because they’ve done a brilliant job.

Anyone concerned it all sounds a bit political needs to watch the film again because, for all the laughs, it’s grittier than many people remember and never shied away from addressing the big issues. This time the anger feels more focused and the politics more sweeping, with eight episodes and roughly four times as long to play with.

Sheffield Spires Academy, the fictional school run by Jean (Lesley Sharp), where her husband Dave (Mark Addy) works as a caretaker, is falling apart, Gaz (Robert Carlyle) is now living in a caravan and working as a hospital porter experiencing the challenges the NHS faces, not least the mental health crisis, and Horse (Paul Barber) is battling the bureaucracy of the benefits system.

But it’s politics with a small ‘p’ and a big heart, just like the original film. From the moment we see Gaz struggling to get a mattress onto a bus, in a brilliant opening which cleverly echoes the film’s famous canal scene, it’s like he and his pals were never away.

The camaraderie’s still there and you feel instantly invested in their fortunes, which don’t look too promising based on the opening two episodes.

Gaz is still concocting madcap schemes, with the dependable Dave there to anchor him to reality. Little Nathan (Wim Snape) is all grown up and working as a police officer, and Lomper (Steve Huison), who’s as grumpy as ever, works in the Big Baps Cafe, which acts as a makeshift social club for the gang, whose old Millthorpe Working Men's Club is sadly lying closed and derelict – a fate which echoes that of the real Shiregreen Club, where the cast stripped before a live audience for the film.

The new additions slot in seamlessly, especially Talitha Wing as Gaz’s tearaway teenage daughter Destiny Schofield, who appears to have inherited her dad’s fondness for mischief and has great chemistry with Robert Carlyle.

Aiden Cook, who as troubled year eight pupil Twiglet forms an unlikely bond with Dave, also appears to be a star in the making, and comedy stalwart Miles Jupp is great fun as the hapless Darren Eldwick.

We’ve only seen the first two episodes but we were given a teaser of what’s to come and the rest of the series looks just as good, with plenty of heartbreak and hilarity in store, and we can’t wait to binge the remainder.

Sheffield again looks brilliant, just as in the film, with Gleadless Valley, Park Hill, Meadowhall and Parkwood Springs among the areas featuring prominently in the opening episodes, along with several swooping aerial shots of the city sparkling in the sun. The Star even gets a shout-out in the first episode, though we promise we’re not biased.

All episodes of The Full Monty TV reboot will be available to stream on Disney+ from Wednesday, June 14.